'Star Wars' gives Disney a ‘100-year plan’

The forthcoming "Star Wars" movie could be even more magical for media giant Walt Disney than its blockbuster "Frozen," according to one analyst .

"There's a little movie called 'Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens' coming in December, and that is going to break records like we've never seen," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Rentrak.

Disney posted better-than-expected earnings on Tuesday, after the bell, boosted significantly by its box office successes, theme park and media networks. However, revenue for Disney fell short of forecast, whose shares were down as much as 9 percent around Wednesday's open.

Dergarabedian said "Star Wars" will help earnings, especially as its release date is in December, the popular holiday period that saw the success of "Frozen."

"This is a movie that's opening in December, and if you think about it, their top two earning films of all time opened in December and this is going to join those ranks."

"I think most certainly it's going to break the all-time December opening weekend record. We've never had a movie in North America open with over $100 million in December and this will happen with the next Star Wars."

"That movie can play very strongly into the new year of 2016, where it's a bit less competitive than the summer time frame."

Lucasfilm

The Millennium Falcon and TIE fighters as seen in the “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” teaser.

The Star Wars movie franchise became part of Disney in October 2012, when the company bought Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion.

"The purchase of Lucasfilm is an amazing coup for Disney to add to Disney animation, Pixar and Marvel. So just under this umbrella of brands that Disney has, the sky's the limit."

"'Star Wars' will bear fruit for the next 10, 20, even 100 years. This is a 100-year plan for Disney with all these various properties. Then these properties go to the small screen, then there's product placement, products associated with 'Star Wars.'"

Frozen still a 'big deal'

Having grossed over $1.27 billion in box offices worldwide, "Frozen" does not appear to be slowing down, he said.

Looking at Rentrak's small screen analytics, Dergarabedian said "Frozen" had generated around $300 million on DVD and Blu-ray sales. He added that its power remains, noting that for 69 out of the 71 weeks it has been in the home video marketplace, the film has been in the top 50 performers.

"With the sequel coming up, certainly that's a big deal for them, that's a franchise that will bear fruit for a very long time. There's also merchandising potential as well."

Along with these films, "Inside Out," the Marvel franchise and Pixar, Dergarabedian said the overall picture for Disney—on both big and small screen—"looks very bright indeed."